'Try' originally meant 'to sift, to examine' — the 'attempt' sense came in the 1500s from testing oneself.
To make an attempt or effort to do something; to attempt to achieve or complete.
From Middle English 'trien' meaning 'to try, to test, to examine judicially,' borrowed from Anglo-French 'trier' (to pick out, to sift, to examine, to judge), probably from Late Latin *tritāre (to separate, to sort), a frequentative form of Latin 'terere' (to rub, to grind, to wear away), from PIE root *terh₁- (to rub, to turn, to bore through). The original meaning in English was 'to examine judicially, to test, to sift' — you 'tried' grain by sifting it or a person by putting them on trial. The modern 'attempt' sense developed later, from the idea that attempting something is testing yourself against
The word 'try' originally had nothing to do with attempting — it meant 'to sift, to separate, to examine in court.' A judge 'tried' a case the way a miller 'tried' grain: by sifting it to separate good from bad. The legal sense came first, and 'trial' still preserves it. The modern 'attempt' sense only emerged in the 16th century, from the idea that to attempt something is to test yourself. The word 'trite' (worn out, overused) is a cousin — from Latin 'tritus,' literally 'rubbed,' from the same root.
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